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Power: Recruiter (4) Once per turn, when you are conquering a region occupied by more than one opponent's piece, you can recruit one of their warriors to your side. Replace one of their pieces with one of yours (note #1: This can only be done when you win the battle, the additional token can aid you in this battle though) (Note #2: The piece that is replaced will be the one that would go back into the tray not one they can redeploy...in other words they are not out two tokens this way, still one, however you would gain one token). You are limited by the number of tokens in the tray.

Example: Player A has 3 tokens and the recruiter ability. Player B has two tokens. One of player B's tokens turns into a token for player A creating a 4 on 1 advantage allowing player A to take the territory easily. Player B gets to redeploy the piece that was eliminated from that territory (they still lose one token, which is the one that was lost via conversion)

Rage(5):
Sacrifice an undeployed race token to conquer an area using only one race token.
This ability can be used as often as wanted.

Territorial(5):
At the end of your turn, you may declare areas you control as homeland areas.
You're allowed 5 of such areas which remain homeland areas as long as your race is active.
When homeland areas are lost you can re-conquer such areas with only two tokens, even if dragons, alliances, non-adjacency etc. would normally disallow this.
Note: Homeland tokens do not add to defense.

Warcamp(4):
At the end of your turn, you may (re)deploy your warcamp.
Conquering areas adjacent to the warcamp require three tokens less.
Note: As normal, the Warcamp token adds one to defense and is temporary lost when its area is conquered

Allied(5): remains active when in decline, in decline ghouls are also affected
All your races are allied:
During conquest and redeployement, you may place tokens in areas of your other races to aid in their defense.
If a race token is placed in such an area, adjacent areas can be attacked and powers like giant/troll ability
are active
Notes:
- Tokens include forts, heroes etc, which can be placed even without a token of the actual race being present.
- If the owning race leaves/abandons an area with an allied race token, the ally automatically takes over the area.
- Water cannot be used (even if an seafaring ally occupies such areas)
- When going into decline, 1 race token remains even in areas of a ghost ally.

I've started playing Small world since few weeks, but i loved it so much that i've like to try and add my ideas to this beautiful game. I'm happy that this forum could offer me such a chance.

this are the new special powers i would try to add to the game:

Tax Collectors(5)at the end of every turn, any other player must roll the reinforcements die. if it shows the blank face, that player must pay to you one victory coin from his own stash. however, for every point you collect this way, you must discard one of your race token from your stash or from the board.

Refugee(4) at the end of your turn, the player that have the more active race token on the board must pay one victory point to you.

Ravaging (4) after conquering a region with a "Troll lair", "encampment", or "fortress" token, you can take it and use it as if you have the appropriate racial or special power.

Sand-dweller(3) at the end of your turn, place a "desert token" in a region you conquered. this token stays in play even if you abandon the region, you're conquered, or you go in decline. Any region with a "desert" token change his type to desert and is not worth any additional point nor bonus that could grant before being turned to desert.

Latin-lover (4) latin lovers conquers any region occupied by an active race token that portrays a female character at one less token than usual.

Vegetarians (0) Vegetarians gains one bonus victory coin for every farmland, hill and forest they occupy.

races:Drow(5) Drow can start the game in any region with a cavern. Drow consider any ragion with a cavern being adjacent to each other conquest purpose.

Leprechauns(2+)the player that choose Leprechauns starts playing with 2 race tokens plus one race token for every victory point that has been placed on the leprechaun race to skip it.(in additions to the tokens granted by his special power)

Golem (3)Golem can take and additional redeployement phase at the end of every opponent turn. however, any time they use that power, they must discard one of their victory point per every race token they redeploy.

Tax collectors: even in a 5 player game, weaker than alchemist
Regugee: weaker than alchemist (unless 2p game); and less tokens
Sand dweller: Pretty lousy, unless the race itself does keep scoring for the desert area's ?!
Latin lover; significantly weaker than commando; even in a female only setup.
Photosyntetic: I would prefer bivouacking, with two more attack units, even if the bonus would apply each turn.
Vegetarians : weaker than merchant, and 2 tokens less??

Also drow have a weak power, which in addition is useless with underworld/flying. I would rate them 7, but think racial powers equal to special powers (underworld) are a bad idea.

Conquistador (4): During the scoring phase of any turn in which you conquered at least one territory occupied by a Lost Tribe, gain a number of points equal to the current turn number of the game.

[We've added this to our mix and like it ... the non-Conquistador players have an incentive to kill off the Lost Tribes early, and the Conquistador player has fun trying to defend a lost tribe so he can conquer it in a later turn and score more points.]

RacePriest
(5) You may 2 times per turn, swap all your tiles from one of your Regions with an adjusting Region.

PowerHoly
(4) Before you start your turn,you can bring back your fallen men back to life, by roll the dice. You can bring as many tiles back from the tray as the eyes of the die shows.(you can never bring more tiles back than you have lost)

Discordian (4): If you wish to take the race with Discordian, you must pay two Victory Coins rather than one to skip each race above the race with Discordian on the list of available races (you need not make this payment if you skip past Discordian to take a different race). When you take the race that has the Discordian ability, discard the Discordian card and instead choose any currently available Special Power from the list of six displayed Special Powers. This becomes the Special Power for your chosen race. After doing this, move all of the remaining Special Power cards up the list to new races until all gaps are filled.

Well, we thought of a few samples of this one, so i'll right them and you decide what you feel best.

"Once per game, at the start of any of your turns, you may switch your Special Power token with one of the first five new Races in the new Races and Special Powers deck".

OR:

"Take the last Special Power token from the bottom of the Special Power tokens deck when you choose the Slimes. At the start of each of your turns, you may pay 1 Victory Points to switch between your ACTIVE Special Power, and your NON-ACTIVE Special Power".

At any rate you start with the original SP the Slimes get, but you can change it (without knowing what's at the bottom of the deck of course) while wasting money every turn, or change it ONCE with one of the five new races that are waiting in turn to be played with.

Race: Infantry: (6/11) Once per turn per opponent, you may cause one of their active race tokens to retreat to an adjacent occupied territory held by that opponent's same active race. If none are available, return the token to their hand.

This is similar to the commando power, but balanced out by a.) not killing the token, b.) limiting the effect to active occupied territories, and c.) limiting the number of uses to one per opponent

Power: Gambliln': (4): When a player choses this power they have the option to immediately draw four coins from the victory point stash, or they may choose to gamble. If this power is still held at the end of the game, the player may collect all of the accumulated coins from the race draw pile.

Another possible variant for this is to have the option to flip a victory coin upon choosing the power. Heads gets nothing, tails gets all coins in the race draw pile, or heads gets 4 coins, tails gets the pile... etc...

Hey, just thought of some possible additions while reading through this thread

RaceTransmogrifiers (4): During conquest you can manipulate the 6 available races by picking two of the face-up special powers and make them swap places.

(Was originally going to call them fleshwarpers, but seems a bit too dark for the game? These would be the crazy scientist-mages who grow creatures in vats. This race would add a nice tactical option, allowing you to either prevent some powerful combinations or to set up yourself for an improved race. Would it be better if they could make races swap places instead of powers?)

Can anyone think of a good way to do a Titan race who only has a single unit on its race banner?

PowersPlanar: Completely dentical to Underworld, except it works for Magic regions instead of Underworld regions.

(Good wizard counter and even better for Planar Wizards.)

Blight (4): When you enter Decline, place a Blight marker on every region you occupy. This region is now worth 1 less VP to any race excepting your blight race as the blight consumes all life. This also limits any future races.

(This could also be a tactically sound power as it lessens the value of the regions your Decline race occupies, making them less likely to be attacked. Also, it changes the game considerably by forcing the players to fight over a much smaller territory. Blight Ratmen would be nasty, I believe.)

And a last, possibly unbalanced, power:

Cataclysmic (3): This race is tampering with forbidden secrets. When they enter Decline, a region they occupy is instantly obliterated in a tremendous blast which in turn also obliterates any active race tokens in adjacent regions. These tokens are all removed from the game, although elves get to reduce their losses by one per region hit. This blast can also damage sea regions.

(This power is weakened by the fact that most races have to make a continous empire (so there is a good chance they'll hit some of their own), and since it only activates on Decline the other players have a turn to wipe out any strategic positions or go into decline as declined races are immune (too few or hiding underground). Still, this power might only deserve 2 tokens or should just reduce all active race stacks to a single token.)

Golems (8)
Golems conquer all regions at 1 less token than normal, to a minimum of 1. When the Golems go into decline, finish your turn and score as normal, then remove all Golem tokens from the board.

Automatons (8)
Automatons conquer non-Magic regions at 1 less token than usual, to a minimum of 1. At the end of each player's turn, after scoring, if the Automatons occupy no Mine regions, you must remove one Automaton token of your choice from the map.

Wraiths [v 1.0] (6)
When conquering an In Decline Region, the Wraiths may choose to share this region with the In Decline race. If so, ignore the In Decline token(s) for the purpose of conquest, and do not remove it/them from the board. Both players (Wraith and In Decline) collect Victory points as normal from that Region, but if the Wraiths share a region with their own player's In Decline race, collect only for one or the other. If another player conquers a region shared between the Wraiths and an in decline race, count all tokens on the region for determining its defense, and return only the in-decline race token to the tray afterwards.

Special Powers:

Stalwart (5)
When a region this race occupies is conquered, you may immediately redeploy surviving race tokens rather than taking them in hand until the end of the turn.

Tactical (5)
When this Race conquers a region, for each region after the first that is adjacent to that region and occupied by this Race, reduce the number of tokens required to conquer that region by 1, to a minimum of 1. (So two adjacent regions means 1 less token, three regions means 2 less tokens, etc.)

Prophetic (4)
When this Race comes into play, you may place up to [7 minus number of players] Victory Points from your stash on the active Race banner of any or all other players. Each player must match these Victory Points with points from their own stash, if possible. Any such player who goes into Decline while the Prophetic race is still active forfeits the Victory Points on their banner to the Prophetic race's player. When the Prophetic race goes into decline (or is otherwise left with no active race tokens in hand or on the board), it forfeits all outstanding Victory Points on other race banners.

Anthropologist (4)
When conquering a region that contains a Lost Tribe token, this race may choose to share the region with the Lost Tribe. If so, ignore the Lost Tribe token for the purposes of conquest, and leave it on that region along with this race's tokens. Until this race goes into decline or abandons that region, the Lost Tribe token counts as an active race token for the purpose of defending that region (ie, adds one to the number of tokens required for another race to conquer the region). When that region is conquered, remove the Lost Tribe token from the board in lieu of returning an active race token from the board.
Also, after conquering a region that contains a Lost Tribe symbol- whether there is a token there or not- this race may take one Victory Point. If you do so, you may not abandon this region.

Booby-Trapping (4)
[Booby-Trapping uses Booby-Trap tokens. There are 10 of them, all of which have one side marked "?". 5 of them are marked on the other side as "Dud", the other 5 are marked as "Booby-Trapped!"
At the end of each of your turns, you may place any number of Booby-Trap tokens on your occupied regions, "?" side up, no more than 1 per region. Once placed, Booby Traps may not be moved. Whenever any other player conquers a region with a Booby-Trap token, turn it over. If the other side says "Dud", return it to the box without effect. If it says "Booby Trapped", return the token and one of the conquering race tokens to the tray. This may result in the region being left unoccupied. Booby Traps remain on the board even if the Booby-Trapping player abandons the region, and are removed when this race goes into Decline.

Haunting (5)
When the Haunting race goes into Decline, for every token removed from the board, you may place a Haunt token on any region adjacent to one this race occupies. Haunt tokens prevent any player from scoring victory points from that region, and remain in play until this player's new race goes into decline and the Haunting race is removed from the board.

Cartographer (5)
At the end of each of your turns, count the number of regions between the two furthest-spaced regions you occupy (following the shortest possible path), and score one extra Victory Point for each.

Droids(6)-Race
When conquering a mountain region, put a time token on the mountain. At the end of your turn, if a Droid controls a mountain and there isn't a time token on it, take an extra token from the storage tray and redeploy it. If there is a time token on the mountain, remove the time token INSTEAD. Time tokens are destroyed when conquered.

Sasquatches(6)-Race
Sasquatches can conquer mountain regions using one less token. Sasquatches come with two Sasquatch lairs. Lairs count as an extra defense token. Lairs stay in the game forever and cannot be moved once placed. Adds defense to whoever controls them.

Dryads (5)-Race
On odd turns, forest are worth one extra victory point. On even turns, swamps are worth one extra victory point.

Excalibur(1)-Special Power
Can conquer any region using only one race token except immune regions. Exception, Excalibur can slay a dragon and remove the dragon from the game.

Reborn (5)-Special Power
Comes with 1 life potion token, owner may use Life Potion at any time to return lost tokens from the storage tray back into play. Cannot be used for races in decline. May save life potion for next race. Total tokens may never exceed the amount received when selecting the race.

Traveling (5)-Special Power
At the beginning of your turn, an opponent places a single victory point from storage tray on five different regions of their choice. If you conquer these regions during this turn, claim the victory points. Unclaimed victory points are returned to the storage tray at end of the turn.

Grim Reapers - race (4/9)
They ride around on pale horses and harvest souls while looking grim. Whenever they conquer a region occupied by more than one hostile active race token, two are removed rather than one. Elves lose a single active token.

Missionary - power (4)
If you conquer an In Decline or Lost Tribe-occupied region, put the defending token in your hand. You can now field it as if it was an active race taken of your own. The converted disappear when their old race disappears because of too many in decline races or if the missionaries themselves enter Decline.

Pagan - power (4)
Worshipping the ancient powers of nature, a Pagan race receives 1 extra Victory Point for each type of terrain they hold each turn.

Also, I really think the Gelatinous Cubes (as previously mentioned in this thread) should be implemented in some way! That would just add whole new levels of amusing to the game...

I really like some of your ideas Robo the Dino! Cartographer and tactical are pretty clever (as is stalwart but I think I've heard of it somewhere before). The basic idea behind the golems where they are powerful when active but disappear when they enter decline is also good.

EDIT: A few more ideas, some of them building on the idea of borders rather than regions:

Secluded - power (5)
A secluded race prefers to separate themselves from the world at large. They have the ability to build a Great Wall. They start with three wall pieces, and each round they can build a new one. Each wall piece can be placed on a single border separating two adjacent regions. These regions are then no longer considered to be adjacent, and none of the regions can be conquered from the other without flying. It's not allowed for the Secluded player to seclude a region from himself; if he occupies two adjacent regions he can't place a wall between them. Walls also can't be placed next to mountain regions. They stay in Decline.

Dimensional - power (4)
The Dimensional player receives two Gates which can be placed at the beginning of their turn. They are placed on borders separating regions rather than on the regions themselves. They can pick any border on the map. Two regions separated by portals are considered to be non-adjacent while two regions next to two different portal openings are considered adjacent.

Urban - power (6)
An urban race can place a City once at the end of a turn. Each city earns the player 1 VP when built and a region with a city counts as occupied even if there are no active tokens in it. In fact, if there are any active tokens in a city-occupied region you'll have to pay 1 VP to have them there as the army lives off the city treasury. When you build a city you can immediately redeploy any tokens in the same region. A city disappears if conquered or if you enter into Decline.

Power:
Gambling [4]
Each time any opponent rolls the die, you gain that many coins.

It's a way to make your opponents' life harder: sure they can roll for reinforcements but do they need to? Is the possibility of conquering another region worth giving you 1-3 coins? Remember reinforcement rolls and berserk rolls are optional!

Race:
Gnomes [1] (11 Gnome tokens total)
Ehen the Gnomes become available in the race selection column, attach the next special power of the stack to them.

Now you can have Stout Dragon Master Gnomes! (10 tokens) Berserk Hill Gnomes! (9) Underground Flying Gnomes! (11) Cursed Merchant Gnomes! (err... 3) Maybe the powers don't work well together, but that's part of the Gnome's beauty!
I haven't found any two powers (among the base game and the 3 expansions) that, when combined, create a rules nightmare; correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Power:
Gambling [4]
Each time any opponent rolls the die, you gain that many coins.

It's a way to make your opponents' life harder: sure they can roll for reinforcements but do they need to? Is the possibility of conquering another region worth giving you 1-3 coins? Remember reinforcement rolls and berserk rolls are optional!

Race:
Gnomes [1] (11 Gnome tokens total)
Ehen the Gnomes become available in the race selection column, attach the next special power of the stack to them.

Now you can have Stout Dragon Master Gnomes! (10 tokens) Berserk Hill Gnomes! (9) Underground Flying Gnomes! (11) Cursed Merchant Gnomes! (err... 3) Maybe the powers don't work well together, but that's part of the Gnome's beauty!
I haven't found any two powers (among the base game and the 3 expansions) that, when combined, create a rules nightmare; correct me if I'm wrong on this.

What do you think of them?

You're using my Gambling idea!
That makes me pretty happy. I'm glad to hear it works on your group as well.

About the Gnomes, I like the idea, but I think 11 is too much.
Maybe they should be 0 Gnomes. We'll try it out on our group!

Anyway, now that we've tried the Gambling and Ninjas for some time, they both became part of the game.
The Ninjas (topic's 1st page bottom) found out to be the best way to get rid of Ghouls, which are pretty annoying...

Honestly, I hadn't read your idea! This started as 'Reinforcement Tax', but playtesting suggested 'Gambling' for its craps-like mechanic (you're hoping for other players to win their rolls). It was playtested a. with 5 tokens, b. affecting berserk rolls and c. counting your own rolls; and we found the best option was b.

11 Gnome tokens are the total, you only get 1 on the banner. Preliminar study (Hill, swamp and forest = 4 tokens; humans and wizards = 5 tokens) suggested that, for the same ability, races get +1 token. Playtesting confirmed 1 token was better balanced overall than 0 tokens.

Reading your post, I like your 'Tomb of...' idea, might I suggest changing receiving coins for entering the game already in decline?

Honestly, I hadn't read your idea! This started as 'Reinforcement Tax', but playtesting suggested 'Gambling' for its craps-like mechanic (you're hoping for other players to win their rolls). It was playtested a. with 5 tokens, b. affecting berserk rolls and c. counting your own rolls; and we found the best option was b.

11 Gnome tokens are the total, you only get 1 on the banner. Preliminar study (Hill, swamp and forest = 4 tokens; humans and wizards = 5 tokens) suggested that, for the same ability, races get +1 token. Playtesting confirmed 1 token was better balanced overall than 0 tokens.

Reading your post, I like your 'Tomb of...' idea, might I suggest changing receiving coins for entering the game already in decline?

That does sound better. But how do you spread your tokens on the map? If you play and then go in decline it is kind like Stout.
Hmm...
How about adding 1 declined token on each empty area on the map?
So, if you take "A tomb of - " while there are 3 empty areas on the map, you put 1 declined on each and take 3 coins for them.
If there are 7, you put 7 and take 7.
That's up to the number of token you have.

And what about your current in declined race?
Will they stay or disappear?

I love this game, and I'd like to share with you the homemade rules I created in order to make the game better balanced and more funny:

White Ladies (2/7): When the Withe Ladies goes In Decline, all the other players that have an active race in play MUST go In Decline too (at their next turn)

Dwarves (3/8): Each Mine Region your Dwarves occupy is worth 2 bonus Victory coin, at the end of your turn. This power is kept even when the Dwarves are In Decline.

Priestesses (4/9): Once when In Decline, collect 1 bonus Victory coin for any Region you occupy at turn's end.

Lost Tribes (9/14): Only when active, at the end of each of your Troop Redeployments (see Troop Redeployment, p. 5), remove one token from the map, making sure to leave at least one Lost Tribe token in each of your Regions if possible.
[Note: use the empty race banner for the Lost Tribes]

In order to use this power you must discard the Dwarf race banner from play during game setup.

When your race has Dwarf Tossing power, you gain 3 more of your race tokens. You also take 3 Dwarf race tokens placed in front of you. You may toss a Dwarf at any ADJACENT regions' active or inactive race once per turn per race.

@Misanthropology
To my eye, those modifications are neither needed or balanced.
White ladies are already pretty powerful as getting them into decline means you have a sure source of points for many rounds onwards. They don't need to be any better.

Dwarves can earn you a lot of points in decline; probably more points than many others since they keep their racial power. With three mines you are already reaping 6 points per turn, and that's not counting other occupied regions. With your modification occupying three mine regions would earn the same amount of points as another race occupying 9(!) regions, still not counting other occupied territory and your active race.

Priestesses have a pretty nifty racial power, even if it is decline-specific. They get a point for each priestess in the Ivory Tower after all. Can't see why you want to buff them further.

I agree with Conundrum Crow. People pass these three races up all the time, but like any other race, with the right special power, they can score you a lot of points consistently. Plus you get the bonus coins from the players who passed on them. The trick with these three, is to just spread them out, get them into decline quickly, and bring in another race that can offer a little protection (which isn't even necessary with White Ladies).

Conundrum Crow wrote on Sun, 31 October 2010 05:58

@Misanthropology
To my eye, those modifications are neither needed or balanced.
White ladies are already pretty powerful as getting them into decline means you have a sure source of points for many rounds onwards. They don't need to be any better.

Dwarves can earn you a lot of points in decline; probably more points than many others since they keep their racial power. With three mines you are already reaping 6 points per turn, and that's not counting other occupied regions. With your modification occupying three mine regions would earn the same amount of points as another race occupying 9(!) regions, still not counting other occupied territory and your active race.

Priestesses have a pretty nifty racial power, even if it is decline-specific. They get a point for each priestess in the Ivory Tower after all. Can't see why you want to buff them further.

Okay, so I came a little late to the land of Smallworld (last summer), but it's easily my most-played game by far. We've used some of the great suggestions here, and now it's time for me to give back, so here are a few of ours that we liked best.

SPECIAL POWERS:
THIEVING (gives 4 race tokens):

At the end of your turn, collect 1 Victory Coin from the owner(s) of each DIFFERENT Active and In-Decline race you conquered this turn. If you conquered Active and In-Decline races controlled by the same player, that player gives you 2 Victory coins. If you conquered any Lost Tribes, take 1 Victory Coin from the stash.
(Only slightly different from Ransacking, but encourages players to go after multiple races.)

GATEKEEPER (gives 5 race tokens):

At the end of your turn, collect 1 additional Victory Coin for each territory you control containing an underworld passage. This does not grant you the Underworld special power.

BLESSED (gives 4 race tokens)

For the final conquest of your turn, you always receive 3 troops from the reinforcement die. In addition, none of your Active or In-Decline regions may be conquered with aid of the reinforcement die.
(3 tokens played pretty balanced too, but 4 wasn't exactly overpowering. And after all... they're blessed.)

RACES:
MARTYRS (gives 8 race tokens; 13 total in tray)

After scoring and redeploying your troops, you may make one final conquest of a region with an Active race (or In-Decline Ghouls) adjacent to a region you now control. Roll the reinforcement die before choosing which region to attack. Add Martyr tokens from your region to the die result that will equal or surpass the number of race tokens in the adjacent region. (You must sacrifice at least 1 Martyr token.) The normal 2 token minimum does not apply, and extra defenses are useless other than those that prohibit attacks from racial or special powers. All sacrificed Martyr tokens go back into the tray. Your opponent loses 1 race token to the box (except Elves), and immediately redeploys the rest. You do not score any additional Victory coins for this now-empty region.
(If they choose not to use their ability, they're no different from Ratmen, and as soon as they do use it, they're losing tokens and not gaining extra coins. It's really about making other players groan in frustration, and we like that a lot.)

MIMICS (gives race tokens equal to the the banner of the race they will mimic on first turn; 16 total in tray)

At the beginning of each turn that Mimics are Active, you may name 1 other Active race, and use that racial ability as your own for this turn. When you select Mimics, their race banner grants the same number of race tokens printed on the race banner of the Active race you will mimic on your first turn. (You cannot select a race and then choose not to mimic them.) If no race is Active when you select Mimics, you may start with the highest number of race tokens printed on any visible upcoming race banner (combined with those granted by your Special Power), but you may not use any racial ability until another race becomes Active.
(This is really similar to one on the previous page of this thread called Doppelganger. We really liked it, and gave it a different name more reflective of what the race actually DOES in play.)

Daemons (4/9): Each Daemon counts as 2 tokens when conquering occupied Regions. They only count as 1 token in defence and when conquering empty regions.

Logic: Daemons relish combat and destruction above all else and are not interested in defence or empty regions although they can attack them.

This makes them rather powerful attackers but not overly so. They still need two tokens to capture empty regions (3 for empty mountains) and in attack they would still need 2 tokens (power of 4) to capture regions with 1 enemy. Where they become really powerful is where they attack strong regions like 3 enemies in a mountain, where only 3 Daemons are needed or 1 enemy in a mountain where they need only 2 tokens. Against Trolls and other fortifying races they are also good. Being so powerful attackers they are likely to come to the attention of others and not last too long.

I'm still very new to the game (I think we've played 5 games or so) and haven't bought or read up on the expansion packs, so my apologies if some of these are already implemented in some way. Here are my thoughts:

Races

Demigod (5/10) - Demigods are -2 to conquer any region (at least 1 token required). Demigods may not abandon conquered spaces. When in-decline, score an additional Victory coin for every two regions controlled by a demigod. When any player conquers a region controlled by a demigod (active or in-decline), that player earns an additional Victory coin.

Shadow (4/9) - During conquest Shadows ignore defending player tokens and may occupy any space at the same time as an occupying force. Shadows must still pay an additional token to occupy a mountain, fortress, lair, or encampment. You may count newly occupied territories as conquered for the purpose of resolving special powers. Spaces occupied by more than one race score a Victory coin normally as if that race alone controlled the area. During an opponent's conquest, ignore all active Shadow tokens. Opponents must count conquest of a Shadow-controlled region as if conquering an empty land. When going into decline, lose all Shadow tokens from any doubly-occupied territory.

Special Powers

Knightly (5) - When a knightly race occupies a territory adjacent to your in-decline race(s), it may treat all spots adjacent to that space as adjacent to its own (note that this stacks). During redeployment, knightly race tokens may choose to reinforce territories controlled by your in-decline race(s), as long as those spots are adjacent to a territory controlled by your knightly race.

Reincarnated (3) - When a token of your active race is supposed to be sent back to the tray, instead place it in a pile on the reincarnated power token (maximum of 5). When sending your active race into decline, keep this power active. Once you select a new race, this race now also gets the reincarnated power. You may play race tokens left on the reincarnated token during the first deployment of your new active race. Count these tokens as if they were of the same active race as your new one. NOTE: Elves may choose to send one race token to the reincarnation pile when one of their territories is conquered by an opponent.

Those are all great ideas. I just got the Be Not Afraid expansion with extra blank race and power banners, so I'm going to use a couple of your suggestions the next time we play. Except I think with the custom banners we already have, we'll try Knights as a Race (5/10)and Shadow as a special power (4).

jrpurdon wrote on Thu, 18 November 2010 10:52

I'm still very new to the game (I think we've played 5 games or so) and haven't bought or read up on the expansion packs, so my apologies if some of these are already implemented in some way. Here are my thoughts:

Races

Demigod (5/10) - Demigods are -2 to conquer any region (at least 1 token required). Demigods may not abandon conquered spaces. When in-decline, score an additional Victory coin for every two regions controlled by a demigod. When any player conquers a region controlled by a demigod (active or in-decline), that player earns an additional Victory coin.

Shadow (4/9) - During conquest Shadows ignore defending player tokens and may occupy any space at the same time as an occupying force. Shadows must still pay an additional token to occupy a mountain, fortress, lair, or encampment. You may count newly occupied territories as conquered for the purpose of resolving special powers. Spaces occupied by more than one race score a Victory coin normally as if that race alone controlled the area. During an opponent's conquest, ignore all active Shadow tokens. Opponents must count conquest of a Shadow-controlled region as if conquering an empty land. When going into decline, lose all Shadow tokens from any doubly-occupied territory.

Special Powers

Knightly (5) - When a knightly race occupies a territory adjacent to your in-decline race(s), it may treat all spots adjacent to that space as adjacent to its own (note that this stacks). During redeployment, knightly race tokens may choose to reinforce territories controlled by your in-decline race(s), as long as those spots are adjacent to a territory controlled by your knightly race.

Reincarnated (3) - When a token of your active race is supposed to be sent back to the tray, instead place it in a pile on the reincarnated power token (maximum of 5). When sending your active race into decline, keep this power active. Once you select a new race, this race now also gets the reincarnated power. You may play race tokens left on the reincarnated token during the first deployment of your new active race. Count these tokens as if they were of the same active race as your new one. NOTE: Elves may choose to send one race token to the reincarnation pile when one of their territories is conquered by an opponent.

Here's a few we have gone with:
(I'm a big fan of not having to track down new playing pieces.)

Race: Lost Tribes
Number: 2X + 3 (where X = number of players)
Notes: The total number of races that the Lost Tribes receive is equal to 2X+3. Count the number of Lost Tribe tokens on the board, and give the player controlling the Lost Tribes an additional number of race tokens to bring the total number of tokens up to the allotted 2X+3. If there are too many Lost Tribe tokens already on the board when the Lost Tribes are chosen, the controlling player must remove a number of Lost Tribe tokens to bring the total down to the necessary level. The Lost Tribes normally only receive points for occupying their ancestral homelands.
Pieces needed: Lost Tribe King

This makes those pesky Lost Tribes playable, and keeps you from having to go out and make new pieces. While there is the potential for lots of them in the game, they are balanced in that, outside of special powers, they can only receive points for occupying their original homelands.

Race: Mountains
Number: X (where X = number of players)
The mountain pieces are now a player race. Any Mountains that share a territory with another nation are removed into the hand of the controlling player. If there are too many Mountains on the board, the player must remove enough. Any Mountains that solely occupy a territory may remain on the board. Mountains count as two armies for purposes of conquest. Thus one Mountain can conquer an empty territory, and two Mountains can conquer a territory with two opposing armies in it. If the Mountain player buys the King of the Mountains or Hordes of Mountains, these additional Mountains are treated as normal armies.
Pieces needed: King of the Mountains

Yep. Play the mountain pieces. They are tough, but this is balanced in that often they are a bit overkill.

Special Power: Royal
Number: +5
Notes: The player receives the Royal Banner, and places it at the end of his turn in one of his occupied territories. That territory cannot be conquered by any opponents. During his following conquests, all territories adjacent to the Royal Banner cost one less army to conquer. At the end of any turn, the Royal Banner may be moved during redeployment.
Pieces needed: 1 Royal Banner

Special Power: The Eternal Glorious Dynasty of the&#8230;
Number: +5
Notes: Gain your king for free. Your king cannot be captured, but is returned to your hand at no cost to be placed as reinforcement next turn.
Pieces needed: None

Special Power: Nomadic
Number: +5
Notes: Your army can move through empty territories without attacking or occupying them. When you attack from an empty territory, it takes one less army to attack. If you attack from an empty province, that territory becomes off limits to conquer for the rest of that turn.
Pieces needed: None

I'll respond to the original post, even though it was started 1 1/2 years ago.

I had this idea for a special power:

TRANSIENT (+4): May not occupy a region for more than two turns, but continues to collect victory points for abandoned regions, so long as they remain unoccupied (does not apply to tokens removed after going into decline). When in decline, tokens remain for one turn, then are removed from the board.

All of these have been playtested (mainly in 4p) and are ready to receive criticism. Some have already been posted.

Powers

Elementalist [+3 race tokens] (8 additional Elemental tokens)
At the start of your turn return to the tray all Elemental tokens, then receive 1 Elemental token for each of your Magic regions. Treat Elemental tokens as tokens of your race that are lost on decline. (If you start a turn with only an elemental token in a region, you lose that region)

Freshwater [+4 race tokens]
You may conquer the Lake, and may do so as your first turn's first conquest. While you control the Lake, you need 1 race token less to conquer regions adjacent to the Lake.

Gambling [+4 race tokens]
Whenever a player rolls the die, you receive that many coins.

High [+5 race tokens] We expected an army, not some lowly newcomers
Your regions can't be conquered by races that are on their first turn.

Mapmaking [+4 race tokens] (15 additional map tokens)
When you conquer a region, place one map token on it if it hasn't got one yet. When you decline, receive 1 coin for each map token in the board, then retire all of them. (Map tokens don't give any additional defense and remain on the map even when their region is conquered or abandoned)

Solar [+4 race tokens]
At the end of each of your odd-numbered turns, you receive 1 coin for each of your regions.

Vampiric [+2 race tokens] We feed on pain!
You receive 1 coin each time a player conquers an occupied region not controlled by this race.

Gnomes [1 race token] (11 tokens max)
When the Gnomes become available to be selected, attach a second Special Power banner to them. Gnomes start with a number of tokens equal to the sum of the two Special Powers' printed values plus 1.

Mummies [6 race tokens] Fear the curse of the Mummy!
Each time an opponent tries to conquer one of your regions roll the die. That opponent needs to use that many more race tokens to conquer it or end his conquest phase. (The opponent may use the Reinforcement die, but that will end his conquest phase too)

Fungoids [10 race tokens] Slow and steady...
You can't conquer more than 2 regions per turn.

Troglodytes [7 race tokens] Troglodyteruption!
Instead of on any region on the border of the map, the first conquest of your first turn must be on any Cavern region, and you only need 1 Troglodyte token to conquer it.

Race: Mountains
Number: X (where X = number of players)
The mountain pieces are now a player race. Any Mountains that share a territory with another nation are removed into the hand of the controlling player. If there are too many Mountains on the board, the player must remove enough. Any Mountains that solely occupy a territory may remain on the board. Mountains count as two armies for purposes of conquest. Thus one Mountain can conquer an empty territory, and two Mountains can conquer a territory with two opposing armies in it. If the Mountain player buys the King of the Mountains or Hordes of Mountains, these additional Mountains are treated as normal armies.
Pieces needed: King of the Mountains

Yep. Play the mountain pieces. They are tough, but this is balanced in that often they are a bit overkill.

Special Power: The Eternal Glorious Dynasty of the&#8230;
Number: +5
Notes: Gain your king for free. Your king cannot be captured, but is returned to your hand at no cost to be placed as reinforcement next turn.
Pieces needed: None

Special Power: Nomadic
Number: +5
Notes: Your army can move through empty territories without attacking or occupying them. When you attack from an empty territory, it takes one less army to attack. If you attack from an empty province, that territory becomes off limits to conquer for the rest of that turn.
Pieces needed: None

I'm unclear on what these "King Pieces" actually do for your races. I'm also curious if you have tested the Lost Tribes race and the Nomadic special power in a multi-player setting? Is the Lost Tribes race always considered in-decline? (As stated in the rules.) Nomadic seems like it would be impossible to keep track of on a 4 or 5 player board.

Playing as the Mountains is interesting. It seems people have been dying to do something with them ever since this thread was started, for some reason. This is one of the better ideas.

The rest of the special power ideas seem trite. With "Hill" and "Swamp" and "Mounted" already part of the game (I never play with Hill) why would we want "Mountain" or "Jungle"?

Demigod (5/10) - Demigods are -2 to conquer any region (at least 1 token required). Demigods may not abandon conquered spaces. When in-decline, score an additional Victory coin for every two regions controlled by a demigod. When any player conquers a region controlled by a demigod (active or in-decline), that player earns an additional Victory coin.

Shadow (4/9) - During conquest Shadows ignore defending player tokens and may occupy any space at the same time as an occupying force. Shadows must still pay an additional token to occupy a mountain, fortress, lair, or encampment. You may count newly occupied territories as conquered for the purpose of resolving special powers. Spaces occupied by more than one race score a Victory coin normally as if that race alone controlled the area. During an opponent's conquest, ignore all active Shadow tokens. Opponents must count conquest of a Shadow-controlled region as if conquering an empty land. When going into decline, lose all Shadow tokens from any doubly-occupied territory.

Special Powers

Knightly (5) - When a knightly race occupies a territory adjacent to your in-decline race(s), it may treat all spots adjacent to that space as adjacent to its own (note that this stacks). During redeployment, knightly race tokens may choose to reinforce territories controlled by your in-decline race(s), as long as those spots are adjacent to a territory controlled by your knightly race.

Reincarnated (3) - When a token of your active race is supposed to be sent back to the tray, instead place it in a pile on the reincarnated power token (maximum of 5). When sending your active race into decline, keep this power active. Once you select a new race, this race now also gets the reincarnated power. You may play race tokens left on the reincarnated token during the first deployment of your new active race. Count these tokens as if they were of the same active race as your new one. NOTE: Elves may choose to send one race token to the reincarnation pile when one of their territories is conquered by an opponent.

Congrats on the creative ideas. As best I can tell, these don't mimic anything put out by DOW so far. Smallworld is the kind of game that invites imagination immediately--I think if you get a grasp of the elegantly simple strategy right away, then you can think up all kinds of ideas. The problem now is to think up things nobody else has done yet. That's gonna get tougher as more people add to the forums here and at BGG.

That said, here are my thoughts on your ideas:
Demigod--seems balanced enough, also seems like it would throw around a lot of coins, making a game a bit more high-scoring for those involved. The one hiccup here is that they seem to have a different power in-decline than they do as an active race...not sure how I feel about that.

Shadows--This is VERY similar to a race I have been playtesting at my weekly game group. (I call it the Demons.) It will be posted on here shortly. Your version seems a bit benign, just co-existing with other races. Do both races score coins for the shared regions on their respective turns? I'm envisioning playing this out...it seems the only reason one would conquer a Shadow controlled region is if they needed the land itself or were trying to bump Shadows to the tray. After all, the Shadows don't hurt anybody, right? (The Shadows do go to the tray upon conquest, right?) Does the coexisting race also send a token to the tray at any point? If the Shadows' tokens do not give them defensive capabilities, they seem underpowered, IMO, even with their benign attacks not making them a direct threat. The in-decline resolution you have here is different than my idea, but it's sensible; I like it. Either way, this is a remarkable idea for having played only 5 games so far.
Coexisting is a concept many have tinkered with on here...so far I've not been happy with how it's been done. But the Demons are coming...
As of March 27th, here's the link for the Demons over at BGG:http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/65368/smallworld-fan-r ace-demons-v-1

Knightly--straight up, this seems too complicated to keep track of, and there's no reason I can think of for ever wanting to reinforce someone else's regions with my tokens.

Reincarnated--now this is a gem! You should be proud. Usually something like this is a bummer for the Elves, but the way you've drawn it up makes it a tactical choice for the Elves! I'm definitely trying this one as soon as I can make a badge for it. It is slightly similar to the Pygmy race, but different enough to be original. One question: does the newly chosen race get 2 special powers then? Reincarnated AND whatever it was paired with in the column? Or do you just mean that it gets the tokens from the Reincarnated Badge? One more question: are the Reincarnated race tokens played as in-decline tokens or as active tokens? I'm assuming active, since they are now part of the new race. (What a great way to cheat the Necromancer, from the newest expansion!)
IMO, 2 powers is a bad idea. Playing the 5 Reincarnated tokens as active is a good idea. (Although it may be a bit confusing, as there will likely still be in-decline tokens of the same race still on the board.) This power might be tough for a 1st time player to deal with.

Nice work! I look forward to giving this a try and seeing more from you in the future.

In order to use this power you must discard the Dwarf race banner from play during game setup.

When your race has Dwarf Tossing power, you gain 3 more of your race tokens. You also take 3 Dwarf race tokens placed in front of you. You may toss a Dwarf at any ADJACENT regions' active or inactive race once per turn per race.

When you conquest into a region with a mine, you find (receive) 2 more dwarfs.

You do not have to conquest into a region to Dwarf Toss....You can do it just for fun.

So what does "Dwarf-tossing" do for you as an attacker? You say you can toss a dwarf at any adjacent region, but you didn't say what that actually accomplishes.
I'm interested (and even though I like the dynamic of having the Dwarf race in the game, there are a lot of Dwarf-haters out there who I'm sure will be thrilled to chuck the race banner for a game or two.)

Declining (3) At the end of your turn, after your redeployment, one of your region enters in decline. If this race is still active, your decline tokens of this race conserve their race power and all decline region of this race worth you one extra victory point. These decline token does not count for the limit of one single race in decline.

Note: Except for the Ghouls, these decline token cannot conquer new region even they conserve their race power. As an example, a decline wizard token in a magic region gives you 3 victory point.

Except for elves, the decline token return to the trash if their region is conquered. In the case of the elves, the conquered token go in your hand and become active again at your next turn.

Hi everybody.
My name is Paolo, or eriadan in the net.
I've bought this great game some months ago and ever since, often, I love to create and drawn new races. Here, i think, my best race: the old mcdonald's farm expansion Have fun and, please, forgive my beenglish

the race power:

Merchant pigs (4/9) Collect +1 bonus victory coin for any region Merchant pigs occupy at the end of the turn. Who conquers a territory occupied by the Merchant pigs gains +1 victory coin for each Merchant pig token that is withdrawn from the game board and put back into the storage tray.
"Ham... yum! Yum! It's so tasty!"

Rabbits&#8217; hordes (6/17) In your redeployment phase, you get an additional token to be immediately redeployed for each conquered territori which is abandoned. Set a &#8220;devastation token&#8221; in each abandoned region. To conquer a region with a &#8220;devastation token&#8221; on it, each race needs a +1 additional race token (remove the &#8220;devastation token&#8221; after the region is conquered by another tribe). The &#8220;Rabbits&#8217; hordes&#8221; CANNOT invade the regions with a &#8220;devastation token&#8221; and the player will not get any point for the regions with a &#8220;devastation token&#8221; on them.

Fighting Chickens (5/19)

In the redeployment phase a player can place one of his three &#8220;eggs token&#8221; in one of his regions. At the beginning of his next turn, that player discards an &#8220;egg token&#8221;, rolls the reinforcement dice and gains from the storage tray as many &#8220;fighting chickens&#8221; tokens as the number on the dice shows. If another player conquers a region with an &#8220;eggs token&#8221;, he removes it from the board, rolls the reinforcement dice and gains as may +1 victory coins as the number on the dice shows. Discard all &#8220;eggs tokens&#8221; when the &#8220;fighting chickens&#8221; are put in decline.

Military sheep (3/8) Take the token &#8220;Great Leader&#8221; along with the &#8220;Military sheep&#8221; tokens. Place the &#8220;Great Leader&#8221; token in the first region you conquer; after each conquest, you can take all the tokens you have just used apart from one for a new attack. The &#8220;Military sheep&#8221; can attack and conquer only the regions bordering with the region where the &#8220;Great Leader&#8221; is set. You can move the &#8220;Great Leader&#8221; token only at the beginning of your next turn. If the region with the &#8220;Great Leader&#8221; is conquered by another race, that token is immediately discarded (you need +1 additional race token to conquer the region with the &#8220;Great Leader&#8221;). If at the beginning of your turn, you haven&#8217;t got the &#8220;Great Leader&#8221;, as it was discarded before, you must put your &#8220;Military Sheep&#8221; in decline.

Hippy cows (5/10) When the &#8220;Hippy Cows&#8221; conquer a region, anyone of the tokens of the just conquered race is discarded. To conquer a region occupied by HippyCow each tribe needs only 2 tokens. For each active hippycow tokens wich is discarded in the storage tray you gain 2 VP.

Hi guys!! Here some new ideas for races/events/abilities!
Hope you'll like them!!
Have a nice game!

RACES

Vampire 1/15

U have only one Vampire at the beginning of the turn ( With a special token: Old Vampire). You add normally all tokens from ability, but you must have MAX 6 vampires.
For the first turn, only the old vampire acts like a dragon.
When any vampire conqueres a region with active race, put an addictional Decline vampire token from the box.
From the second turn, your Old vampire could be occupied as normal. All the other vampires&#8217; abilities still remain.

Vichings 6/15

When declined, take the Thor token from the box ( or Valhallaaaaa if u prefer&#8230;.) and put it on one of your occupied region.
Thor acts as an ordinary token, but when conquered go back in to your hand. At the end of the turn, if you have still decline vichings put Thor in the field again. If not, u could try to use dice to put Thor back in the game. Thor never dies. He remains in game till the end, even if all your vichings are out of play.

ABILITIES

Devotes (3)

If u sacrify one of your active token, for the next turn you can&#8217;t be occupied by no-one( dragon included)

Soldiers (4)

Soldiers conquer with -1. Are conquered with +1, but at the end of the turn u have to pay one VP each 2 region u occupy. When soldiers are conquered u pay 1Vp.

TALES AND LEGENDS CARD

Storm
Every race that occupies region but mountains and hills, cannot move ( u can&#8217;t take tokens from/into those fields)

Snow
Mountains occupants cannot move and cannot be conquered

Hidden Future
If drawn, put in &#8220;current event&#8221;. Then shuffle the deck and put in &#8220;upcoming event&#8221; a cover card. The next turn show off the cover card and&#8230;play!
A God&#8217;s joke

Every player swaps eachother, clockwise his race ( active or declined).
Vp are not exchanged.

Hi everybody, I'm new to the forum but love Smallworld. Here are some my ideas for new races and power badges.

Races

Flying Monkeys(7/12)- Flying Monkeys have the flying ability as their racial power, but must maintain at least 1 mountain region in their control at all times or have to go instantly in decline.

Blue Faeries (4/9)- on their first turn, Blue faeries hold a blind auction. The winner of the auction will be able to commit 2 Blue Faery tokens to their conquests, even if it forces them to abandon a region. These tokens are not kept on the board but return to the Blue Faery Players hand. As a benefit Blue Faeries are allowed to purchase an extra Power combo after the auction for their services.

Mummies (6/11) Mummies play as regular when active. In decline they keep all tokens on the board in their relative positions. When one of your Mummies lands is invaded, the mummies curse is activated and all mummy tokens arise and play like in decline Ghouls.

Minotaurs (5/10) Minotaurs are issued 3 labyrinth tokens which they may place in any of their controlled regions for a +1 defense and +1 VP. When labyrinths are conquered, 1 attacking race token becomes hopelessly "lost" in the labyrinth and cannot be redeployed. "Lost" race gains defense bonus but no VP bonus. Labyrinths leave the board when Minotaurs go into decline.

Djinn (5/20) Djinn consider all mine regions connected. During their turn, Djinn can leave 2 Magic Lamp tokens in regions they control. If the magic lamps are not conquered before the players next turn, they spawn 2 more Djinn. If they are conquered, they are worth +1VP.

This one only my wife and I play.

Sphinx (4/9) Sphinx play as normal when active. When in decline, Sphinx cannot be conquered until their "riddle" is answered. All players agree to a category for question before Sphinx first turn. The "riddle" cannot change. Note:( We play 2 ways. 1. Each in decline Sphinx gets its own question. 2. One question for all in decline Sphinx)

Power Badges

Jihad (4) gives the player +2 to conquer. You may redeploy as usual. However any region that is conquered is required to remove all tokens from the board, not just 1.

Blood Brothers (3) Any regions adjacent to yours containing a lost tribe token may now be used by the player as an active race token.

Pegasus (4) player receives 1 Pegasus token that allows you to fly one military unit ( any # of tokens needed to conquer the desired region) once per turn, to a region of players choice. Pegasus gives male characters no attack bonus. Pegasus gives female characters +2 attack bonus. Note:(We play this multiple ways: 1 go by picture on the race banners. 2 roll for gender at beginning of game.)

Unholy Creation (3) Once with players active race you may combine all or some of your your race tokens into one Unholy Creation. For every region your Unholy Creation conquers you must leave 1 race token to control it. ( If you have 10 race tokens your creation counts as ten, the next region it conquers 9 and so on.) The Unholy creation is dissolved in decline.